Why Nyeri youths desert villages for Mandera

NYERI COUNTY: Perhaps the biggest question that could be lingering in the minds of many Kenyans is why hundreds of people leave their homes to work in Mandera in the wake of terror threats.

But as bees are attracted to nectar, so were hundreds of Nyeri residents enticed by the good tidings the quarry industry in the faraway county brought to their tables.

With 18 of those brutally killed by suspected Al-Shabaab militants being from Nyeri, it was a big blow to the county that has over 300 people working in the mining industry in the border region.

As this writer found out, it is the good pay that has seen villages in the agriculture-rich county empty speedily as youths traverse the country in search of greener pastures.

'Successful' villagers have been inviting friends and relatives; one after the other and within no time villages had contributed to a workforce in Mandera.

It started with just a few youth travelling to Mandera and Wajir in search of menial jobs and succeeded in making it to the quarries that were picking up in the frontier counties.

A story is told of one Mr Gitonga who after his expedition in Mandera returned to Nyeri a rich man, having worked for just a year.

"It was sometime between 2006 and 2007 and when Gitonga returned from working in a quarry in Mandera, he managed to purchase three small trucks. And the people he invited were also doing well," said Joseph Waruthi, a worker at the Kiganjo quarry just outside Nyeri town.

ATROCIOUS INCIDENT

A survivor of the atrocious incident and a resident of Kiganjo in Nyeri, John Ngatia, who was camping at a military installation in Mandera, recalled how youths had been calling him to inquire about opportunities.

Mr Ngatia said better wages was the reason young people had deserted the Nyeri quarries in favour of those in Mandera.

The man who lost his cousin in the dawn attack said quarries in Mandera were paying Sh30 per foot of building stones while back at home the same would be paid at Sh8.

"There are other places where a foot is paid Sh40 and this has attracted a lot of people. By the end of the week, it is possible for an individual to make Sh20,000. This is a tidy amount I cannot make in Nyeri," said Ngatia.

He said building stones were on high demand due to the growth of the real estate industry that has been spurred by devolution.

"We hardly meet the demand for building stones. There are people moving from one quarry to another placing orders and the demand is overwhelming," noted Ngatia.

Joseph Mbuchi, also from Nyeri, said it was tempting for many to move to Mandera because of the money being made there.

"But with this tragedy I don't think I will be going back to Mandera. The money I was earning is not worth my life. It was the most scaring thing I have ever encountered," Mbuchi said.

Mbuchi is lucky to be alive.

Mbuchi who spoke to The Standard on phone outside the Elwak Administration Police camp, where he was camping together with 80 other people recounted how the killing episode unravelled.

HEAVY GUNFIRE

He said the heavy gunfire in the dead of the night caught everyone unawares.

Although they had been sleeping on the edge of their beds not knowing when the attackers would strike, they never imagined they would be the next targets.

He said they imagined that casual workers would be the last people to be targeted by terrorists and they had no clue on any impending attacks.

"I was like 200 metres from the tents that my colleagues who died were sleeping in. After I heard the loud bangs I told my co-workers not to utter a word since we were under attack," said Mbuchi.

He said after the gunfire died out some hours later, he and a group of about 20 people ventured into the thickets until morning.